RTE meats have a shelf life of four or more weeks in unopened packages stored at 4 C or lower. If the populations of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) increase during the storage of RTEmeats at 4 C, they may increase the levels of lactic acid in samples. A study was conducted to determine if this is a confounding factor in evaluating lactic acid levels in samples collected at different points in their shelf life. Results showed that the amount of lactic acid extracted from the samples did not change with the increased LAB counts (p > 0.05) and with storage time of six weeks (data not shown).